Page 69 of The Perfect Stranger

Chapter Twenty-Four

The motel was the smallest in the area and my chances of finding Nina were high. The walkway lined the stretch off rooms easily allowing access. Those rooms that were not occupied looked the same. The curtains were pulled to the side allowing zero privacy, the beds neatly made. On the first floor only one looked different to the others. There was movement on the inside, and I watched through the sheer lace curtains as a woman fast walked between the bathroom and bed, loading her bag. It was Nina, and she was ready to leave this godforsaken town.

I went to knock, but the door opened before my knuckles even touched the wood.

Wide-eyed, she staggered back in shock. Hitting the edge of the bed, she fell onto the mattress, a Glock pointing straight at me. She looked tired, panicked as she tried to make me out with the sun behind me.

“Nina,” I greeted, my voice low, practically a growl.

“What are you doing here?” Her trembling voice mirrored her trembling hand. Not a good combination when a weapon was involved.

“I’m here for you.”

She frowned slightly as if she was expecting to see someone else. “Jair Ruiz?”

If I didn’t lie, the game was up. She was under the illusion Jair Ruiz, who was now in the hands of Los Santos, was her savior. She didn’t know he had been leading her into a trap. She didn’t know that he was going to leave her for dead once they got what they wanted. She didn’t know that I was almost like them.

The only difference was, I would never let anything happen to her. Nina would be returned safely, even if it cost my own life.

There was a flush creeping up her cheeks, and I wanted so bad to taste her pleasure again. Instead, she came to her senses, straightening her gun wielding arm.

“Yes,” I lied. For now, I was Jair Ruiz.

“You’re the man Evan sent to look out for me?”

I nodded.

Now she looked pissed. “Where were you last night when two men paid me a visit?”

“What two men?”

“I don’t know. We didn’t make introductions. They stood at that window staring in at me.”

Baja or Santos soldiers. “Did they do anything else?”

“Other than terrorizing me, no.”

I should have coaxed Nina’s whereabouts from Ruiz earlier. These men were making a sport out of terrorizing her. I had stayed awake the entire night watching her door from the other side of the complex. Whoever had visited did so when I was with Ruiz.

“Do you know who they are?” She looked hopeful.

“I have an idea.”

“Were they here to kill me?”

“Yes.” She needed to know the danger.

“Right,” Nina began, resolute. She stood, trying to edge around me. “I’m leaving. No need to follow me. I need someone who’s present when the shit hits the fan or not at all.”

I caught her elbow and spun her around to face me. “You don’t stand a chance against these people, Nina. Don’t be foolish.”

“You were nowhere to be seen last night.”

I had you in my sights.

“I think I can do an all right job at keeping myself alive. Besides which, as soon as they realize I have zero to offer them, they’ll leave me alone.”

“But you do.”

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